M&S board members praise Living Wage stitch-in campaign

The board of high street retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S), has agreed to meet with campaigners to discuss paying the Living Wage, following a creative campaign coordinated by the Craftivist Collective and ShareAction’s AGM Army.

The campaigners coordinated a series of “stitch-ins” at branches of M&S across the UK, for craftivists to sew messages onto M&S handkerchiefs, which were delivered to the board, celebrity endorsers, and major shareholders of the British retail giant in advance of its annual general meeting at Wembley Stadium in London.

Robert Swannell, chairman of the board, told over 500 shareholders at the recent meeting: “This campaign was a test case for how these campaigns should be run” and committed to meet with campaigners to discuss the issue over the coming months.

Swannell's handkerchief, sewn by craftivist Fran Reynolds, featured a quote by the Dalai Lama reading: “Open our arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.”